Oklo jumps 4% as SMR stocks rebound despite insider selling

Oklo Inc. rose nearly 4 percent in premarket trading Tuesday, extending a 12 percent gain from the prior session, as investors returned to small modular reactor (SMR) stocks including NuScale Power.

The rebound follows a bruising stretch for the sector. Citigroup's Vikram Bagri cut his Oklo price target to $57 from $76, and Truist's Christopher Souther lowered his to $51 from $55, as concerns over cash burn and commercialization timelines mounted.

Oklo reported revenue of $1.2 million in its most recent quarter with a net loss of $48 million, more than double the $24 million loss a year earlier. The company has signed a 12-gigawatt power agreement with data center operator Switch, plus deals with Meta, Equinix, Diamondback Energy, and Centrus Energy, but none have translated into meaningful revenue yet.

The stock, which peaked at $194.26, now trades around $44, roughly 77 percent below its high. Short interest stands at 21 percent, and the average analyst price target of $85 has fallen from $88 a month ago. Insiders have filed 53 sell orders covering 4.3 million shares, including 641,806 shares in the past three months worth more than $22 million.

Insiders sold 641,806 shares in three months

Caroline Cochran, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jacob DeWitte, co-founder and chief executive, have each sold 1,037,788 shares over the past six months, worth roughly $62.4 million apiece, according to Quiver Quantitative data. Chief Financial Officer Richard Bealmear sold 216,341 shares valued at about $13.2 million. In total, insiders have executed 103 sales and zero purchases in the past six months.

The selling pattern is notable for a company still in its pre-revenue phase. SMRs (small modular reactors, typically under 300 megawatts and factory-built) face a long regulatory and construction timeline before generating commercial power. Oklo's Aurora reactor design uses HALEU fuel (uranium enriched to 19.75 percent, versus 3 to 5 percent for conventional reactors) and has yet to receive a commercial operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

A Form 144 filed August 3 showed DeWitte proposed selling additional shares, adding to the distribution pressure even though such filings do not necessarily mean a completed discretionary sale. The company's second-quarter results, published August 7, kept investor focus on execution milestones rather than near-term profitability.

Can $45.21 resistance hold?

The stock bottomed at $36.60 on July 29 and has since retested resistance at $45.21, its April 7 low. It remains below the 50-day exponential moving average, the Supertrend indicator, and the Ichimoku cloud — all bearish signals. If the stock loses current support, traders point to $20 as the next level.

Institutional positioning is mixed. BlackRock cut its stake by 54 percent, removing 8.6 million shares worth roughly $450 million in the second quarter, while the California State Teachers Retirement System added 8.6 million shares valued at about $448 million. Twelve analysts have issued price targets in the past six months, with a median of $91. Targets range from UBS's $55 to Tigress Financial's $130.

The broader SMR sector has been volatile. Short sellers betting against nuclear companies have made more than $2 billion, according to the Financial Times. The sector's rebound this week suggests some investors see the selloff as overdone, but Oklo's insider distribution and cash burn keep the bear case alive. For investors, the key question is whether Oklo can convert its signed agreements into funded, licensed projects — the difference between a speculative trade and a real business. The next event to watch is NRC action on the Aurora design, which would indicate that commercialization is advancing beyond paper deals.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.